Page 7 of Reckless Games

Spinning around, I’m faced with someone a little taller than me, and clearly muscular from how his shoulders barely fit in his suit jacket. His navy-blue mask matches his suit, and it’s only a shade darker than his blue eyes.

“It’s been a long night.” I nod politely and try to step around him, but he shifts to block my path.

“Want some company?” His eyes dip to where my dress cuts low in the front. “We could ring in the celebrations.”

I shake my head. “I think I’m going to find my room.”

“Maybe tomorrow then?” His eyes are still fixed on me as he once more shifts when I try to move around him.

“She’ll be busy.” A familiar voice coming from behind me sends my heart racing.

The man in blue’s eyes move over my shoulder and widen. I don’t have to turn to know it’s Adam. I smell him, hear him, feel him. A part of me even fears him. Yet somehow, I suddenly feel safe.

“Of course.” The man in blue nods once, taking an immediate step back. “Enjoy your night.”

He disappears so fast I barely have time to blink before Adam is the one in front of me instead.

Adam’s stormy eyes are focused on something over my shoulder, and he tips his chin up, having a silent conversation with someone at a distance before his attention is back on me.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“I—” I don’t know anymore. I want to run, and I want to indulge. I’m so far in over my head; I’m getting offers from random men. Yet, as Adam stands in front of me, my resistance falters. “What is this, Adam?”

My question forces his eyebrows into a pinch as he examines me closer, but I’m not sure what he’s looking for.

“Clarify.”

I roll my shoulders back, trying my best to find my composure around a man who seems to make me lose it.

“Well… I thought this was a holiday retreat.”

“It is.”

“Then why does it feel like more?”

My question hangs heavy between us, and even in a room full of people, all I feel is the attention of the man standing in front of me.

“Tell me something.” He tilts his head, looking me over. “What are you most afraid of?”

“You’re avoiding my question.”

And I’m avoiding his. I don’t like to think about my fears. That would require giving them validation when I came here for an escape.

“Humor me.” Adam watches me shuffle from one foot to the other but stands unmoving.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I guess the unknown.”

He nods his head, accepting my response. “Why?”

“Why?” I breathe out a nervous chuckle, repeating his question. “Because I like knowing what to expect. Is there something wrong with that?”

“No.”

I’m not sure how one word, delivered with such certainty, can be instantly calming, but it is. I stop shifting and freeze in place.

I’ve been told by everyone in my life how annoying it is that I’m a planner. That I want to know exactly what to expect in any given situation. And even if I have my reasons, they guilt me for it.

But here Adam is, saying the one word I didn’t know I was desperate to hear until it left his lips.

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